I met author and blogger Matt Grobert at The Fly-Fishing Show in Somerset, New Jersey, back in January. He seems like a nice enough, regular guy, but you would peg him as a fly-tying genius. The more I watch him tie in these videos from from Tightline Productions, however, the more impressed I am by both his technique and his innovation. This mayfly-emerger pattern features the same “rabbit twist” of rabbit fur and peacock herl that he used on Matt’s Gnat a couple weeks ago to create an extremely buggy, suggestive fly. The “tent wingcase” created by pinching a single segment of goose feather is a great way to suggest that the emerger is ready to hatch.
In this great video Grobert offers several great tying tricks, such as tying in the goose segment on the side of the hook and allowing the thread torque to move it to the top, as well as using upward thread pressure to lock the feather segment down without crushing it. The focus and clarity of these videos is remarkable, and I encourage you to watch them in HD at full screen to get the most our of them.
Cloud Emerger from Tightline Productions on Vimeo.
Hendrickson Cloud Emerger
Hook: 2X-short emerger hook (here, a Dai-Riki 125), sizes 12-14.
Thread: Olive, 6/0.
Shuck: Mayfly-brown Zelon.
Abdomen: Rusty brown Australian possum.
Wingcase: Goose feather segment.
Thorax: Peacock herl and natural snowshoe rabbit’s foot, in a
waxed dubbing loop.
Head: Tying thread.
Note: You can imitate many other mayfly emergers by changing
the colors and hook size.